Injuries, Fatigue Wearing On Yankees At All-Star Break   

The New York Yankees have pretty much dominated the American League through the first half, leading the Major Leagues with a 62-27 record and six selections for next week’s All-Star Game, but the club has begun to slow down in July as injuries and fatigue have mounted.

The Bronx Bombers split a four-game series in Boston last weekend and dropped two of three games to the last-place Cincinnati Reds this week, as closer Clay Holmes blew his second save in a week in a 4-3 loss on Tuesday. New York lost starter Luis Severino, reliever Miguel Castro, outfielder Aaron Hicks, and third baseman Josh Donaldson to injury.

Severino, who was 5-3 in 16 starts this season after making only three in the last three years, gave up three consecutive home runs and left the game prior to the third inning on Wednesday with shoulder tightness. The Yankees starter was placed on the injured list on Thursday and MRI results on Friday revealed a mild lat strain.

Castro, who was acquired from the crosstown rival Mets in March and appeared in 32 games was pulled from the roster on Friday with a “barking” shoulder according to manager Aaron Boone.

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The oft-injured Hicks was pulling out of a slow start (hitting .400 with three home runs in the last seven games), but exiting the game on Tuesday after fouling a ball off of his right shin.

Donaldson, the 2015 American League Most Valuable Player acquired from Minnesota in March, was hit by a pitch in the 7-6 loss to the Reds on Thursday and will miss the opener of a three-game series against Boston with a hand injury.

New York has a massive 13-game lead over Tampa in the East, but their margin for top spot in the AL has dwindled to 3.5 games over the Houston Astros.

With less than three weeks to go until the MLB trade deadline, Yankees GM Brian Cashman may have to consider dipping into the trade market for some rotation help with starters Nestor Cortes and Jameson Taillon’s numbers dipping.

The area of greatest concern may be on the offensive side, where Aaron Judge leading the Majors with 31 HR’s is being counterbalanced by slugger Joey Gallo is hitting an anemic .164 with 10 long balls playing regularly. Cashman could explore trade rental options like Kansas City’s Andrew Benintendi, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Yankees may look elsewhere since the former Boston Red Sox is not vaccinated for COVID-19 and cannot travel to Canada, which would rule him out of playing in Toronto for three regular season games and potential playoff matchups against the Blue Jays.